gad33

SJS8581, that is good news.

Who knows why they didn't ask about domicile. Maybe they did look at the documents, maybe they saw you'd submitted something and decided they just wanted a quick interview. Doesn't matter, you made sure you had everything that was required and he was approved.

@KStene22 Thanks for coming back to relate your experience. And congrats on approval. I'm sure the CO was happy that you had come prepared but it sounded like that she was not going to try to make your life difficult.

Never had to deal with this, so have no idea.

7 hours ago, Michelle_VM said:

I (U.S. citizen) have lived in Canada with my husband and our 3 kids for almost 7 years. All of our documents to prove intent to re-establish domicile were approved at the NVC. They included: 

A signed letter from me

A signed letter from family member 

A signed letter from realtor 

Opening u.s. bank account 

*we will bring a lease agreement to the interview

 

Is there a chance it still will not be sufficient at the interview? I do not see moving ahead of my husband as an option as our children all very young, but if I needed to, how many months in advance would it need to be? 

One of the problems with Montreal is that what is accepted at NVC and other countries is not acceptable to them, hence this long thread.  A lease agreement could be acceptable (without one there's no chance) as I assume you are not working now and either have savings or a joint sponsor.

Make sure you take it and copies to the interview. And make sure you give it to the officer doing the interview and say  - here is my lease agreement starting on such and such a date.

14 hours ago, Tom & Steph said:

Does this mean that if I ever need to travel the day after the interview, to Mexico for the wedding of my best friend, I could use my French passport while my Canadian one is getting ready for my Visa ?

14 hours ago, NikLR said:

assuming the french don't need some sort of special visa for Mexico, yes. 

In theory you should enter Canada on your Canadian passport. But I don't know how strict they are on this.

On 1/31/2020 at 12:04 PM, Tom & Steph said:

I was wondering if there is any extra document I need to give, even though I apply for CR1 while living with my wife in Canada, as a Canadian citizen.

Also is applying as a Canadian citizen (naturalized) is ok or if I should do it as a French citizen (born in France) ?

I was just looking at my review of my experience at my interview in Montreal. And I have written that I took both my passports to the interview and that the first person I saw said that they always put the visa in the Canadian Passport.

3 hours ago, NikLR said:

sending the petition*

The beneficiary applies for the visa.  

 

The only addition for the OP is if they lived in France after age 16.  They would also need a police certificate from France. 

That's why you shouldn't listen to an old person like me. LOL. It's so long since I've done any of this that I don't remember all the minutiae. So the USC sends the petition and then the beneficiary applies for the visa?

I was thinking 18 and resident for 6 months but as that's so easy to check didn't want to say for sure.

I think there's just one problem here - you're a green card holder not living in the US.

In this thread US Citizens are proving that they will (re)establish residence in the US. This doesn't apply to you because as a green card holder your residence is the US.

17 hours ago, canadavisa22 said:

Tell me all about the year 2011 when the 1-130 was approved in 12 days and the whole process took four months lol.

17 hours ago, Tom & Steph said:

This is insane! I never thought it could be that short 😭

Timing.

Canada and Mexico used to have Direct Consular Filing. (DCF) Which if we had applied at that time would have saved us money as we wouldn't have had to go to Montreal. Anyway, I'm not sure exactly when DCF was stopped in Mexico and Canada but some time in 2011 I'm guessing. So when the change was first made, applications that would have normally gone to the local consulate were fast tracked. This is why ours was quick and would have been quicker if we had been speedier in obtaining tax transcripts. Still had to deal with reestablishing residence.

I don't know when they stopped the fast track.

22 hours ago, Tom & Steph said:

I was wondering if there is any extra document I need to give, even though I apply for CR1 while living with my wife in Canada, as a Canadian citizen.

Also is applying as a Canadian citizen (naturalized) is ok or if I should do it as a French citizen (born in France) ?

Because users like the terminology to be correct, it is the USC (your wife I presume) who is applying for the visa. You are the beneficiary. But you want to do this with your Canadian Citizenship and the visa placed in your Canadian passport. On the application you state all your nationalities and obtain police certificates for all the places you have lived (except US). I can't remember off the top of my head if it is over age 18 and how long you have to have lived somewhere but that will be easy for you to find out.

On 1/25/2020 at 8:03 PM, Tom & Steph said:

Did anyone went through that kind of situation ?

What kind of situation do you mean? Exactly the same as you - French and Canadian - more than one citizenship - spousal visa in Canada?

On 1/30/2020 at 10:55 AM, nazgul86 said:

Yes but I've seen lots of people here stating they are living abroad (in Canada) until the interview appointment. How is it different from mine, because of Green card holder vs US Citizen?

There's a huge difference between a green card holder and a Citizen. A US citizen can not be denied entry into the US. It is much more problematic if it is perceived that you have given up your permanent residency.

You state yourself that you are officially residing in Canada, so how can you be a Permanent Resident of the US?

On 1/17/2020 at 8:29 AM, geowrian said:

Just seen a lot more denials due to domicile based on intent than success cases. I'm not saying it can't be done.

I have reviewed that thread. The last success story I saw on it was over a year ago (unless I missed one? it's a long thread, sorry).

In the last year there have been 2 success stories and one 221g. The thread is so long because people (sometimes the same people) ask the same questions over and over again. Also a commonality with the forums is people not coming back to post success stories.

On 1/15/2020 at 6:28 PM, geowrian said:

He will need to either have US domicile or show sufficient intent to establish domicile in the US.

I'm sure some people have had success with the latter, but it is uncommon (Edit: or at least less common).

 

Ugh, I wish people who haven't been through the process wouldn't say things like this. There's a whole thread dedicated to Montreal and domicile as you know and the majority are successful once they understand what is required.

I see that you have posted about domicile in the separate domicile thread. That will be helpful for you as many people who have gone through the experience or are going through it post there.  Also you can decide what is best for your family once you have all the information.

thanks for coming back with the update.

And best wishes for the next phase of your life.

On 12/20/2019 at 11:51 AM, canadavisa22 said:

Because since I've been in this thread most people have said that you need to move to the US ahead of your spouse and re-establish domicile. I've been speaking with people that have recently gone to interviews and been approved with just a lease while living with their spouse. So, while I agree with you, I'm just stating it that way since it's been awhile (at least in this thread) that anyone has reported that they've been approved with just a lease. So I'll follow up when the time comes and let people know how it goes.

 

But, yes, perhaps "test case" is the wrong phrasing. It's just not been a very active thread since I've been in it the last 6+ months or so and I know it's not the common case for those moving to the US.

A test case means the first one to do it which is certainly not the case going by the size of this thread. I have also noticed lately that  number of posts saying you have to move back to the US and re-establish domicile. I have also noticed that these posts are from people who do not live in Canada and/or are not going through the process. So consideration has to be given to the knowledge of the poster.

I do hope that once you have your visa you stay on the boards to advise those that follow.

On 12/18/2019 at 5:55 AM, canadavisa22 said:

We are personally staying together until the interview as we have a young daughter, so we'll be a good test case for others and I'll report back once I'm at that stage.

I'm not sure why you say your's will be a test case, there have been many, many people on this thread who have stayed together and not moved until visa has been issued. This thread is to help applicants ensure they have all the documentation to , hopefully, have the visa issued at time of interview.

Firstly my experience is that it is much easier fo rthe person concerned to ask questions as there could be additional information that you do not have. For example you have not mentioned if her entries were by land or airport. Or when these stays in the US occurred.

I do not know why the overstay was mentioned and then she was let in. Maybe it was a warning not to overstay again?  As she has already had a warning about an overstay there is a good chance that she will not be allowed entry to the US next time. You say she stayed for 10 months and after a return of 3 weeks she went back to the US for 6  months. This does not show any ties to her home country and could be construed as an attempt to live in the US. The longer the gap between visits the better chance she has of being allowed in. But it does depend on how the officer at the time views her situation.

It is time for your friend and her boyfriend to work out how to live/visit either country legally.

17 hours ago, canadavisa22 said:

Nowadays, at least according to the last 25+ interviews we've seen at Montreal, the petitioner is not allowed in the building. 

So fairly new. This is why it is so helpful when people come back and help others going through the process as processes change.

20 hours ago, FeelingYoung66 said:

This thread actually seems heavily weighted towards IR-1/CR-1 applicants.. which is fine of course but as a result it doesn't necessarily speak much to K-1's like me. We too are asked to provide evidence of domicile at the interview, but I am wondering if perhaps the bar on proving the domicile is set lower for K-1's simply because we don't have the petitioner there with us at the interview. Any comments on this thought?

Are you saying that both the USC and non-USC are living in Canada and applying for a K1 visa?

19 hours ago, FeelingYoung66 said:

Doh! My mistake. Somehow I got the idea that they were.

They can be, but they don't have to be.

20 hours ago, darth vader said:

Based on the case below, it appears that if you do not meet domicile requirements and are given 221g at the interview, when you send in the evidence of domicile or intent to domicile, if it doesn't meet their standards, you are given another chance to send in the evidence.

 

Does anyone know how many chances are given? Do you get unlimited chances until the time provided (1 year usually I think) is exhausted?

 

 

 

I have no idea of the number of chances you get, but seeing as there are very few options that Montreal will accept, it wouldn't be long before the only option remaining is for the USC to move to the US. Also, bear in mind that the medical is only valid for 6 months. So continuously responding to RFEs will make it more likely that a new medical will be required.

2 hours ago, canadavisa22 said:

NikLR, I know you know all of the information below, but this is intended for anyone reading this in the future:

 

I've been combing through a lot of information on the forum and the biggest issue I see is people mixing up the types of domicile they're trying to prove. The advice given is based on the USC moving to the US ahead of the spouse but for those that don't want to be separated, they misunderstand the concept of domicile and try to prove they've maintained it while living abroad. 

 

That's exactly what happened to OP in that case. OP was trying to prove that their spouse was only temporarily living in Canada and maintained domicile in the US despite being out of the country for over 18 months. The CO disagreed and believed they didn't maintain their US residency because of how long they had been out of the country. They then started mixing up proof of what they were trying to prove to the CO.

 

If you plan to move with your spouse at the same time then Montreal first wants a firm lease (better than a letter from relative) and second would like a job offer, but more importance (from what I've heard from people that have interviewed) is placed on living arrangements. Outside of those two things all you can add is supplemental information to help form the totality of your case which will be considered by the CO. Things like moving quotes or establishing contact with schools/daycares to register children probably won't move the needle but it's at least better to have them prepared than not in case you have a particular CO that wants more proof.

AND, in a worst case scenario, if the CO feels you haven't proved intention to re-establish domicile, then you'll just have to move ahead of your spouse and endure the separation and re-send your evidence. But it's really important people understand the difference between the types of domicile because I think that's where everyone gets incredibly mixed up.

 

I don't agree with this - if the USC is not going to move back to the US before the interview, then their preference is for a job offer.

Also let's me clear on the lease. Even if you are going to be living with family for zero rent, a formal lease agreement is acceptable whereas a letter stating the same information may not be. I don't want people thinking that there has to be an arm's length rental.

23 hours ago, darth vader said:

 

Absolutely agree. Have you ever seen a case which had both a job and a place to live but was still given a 221g and asked to move ahead of their spouse?

As you know and I have said, this thread is big. But I remember a case where the petitioner thought their spouse would never get their visa and I joked that the con officer wouldn't be happy until they received a photo of the USC literally crossing the border.